IBM and Dassault Systèmes Host Seventh Annual European CATIA Forum in Paris, November 4-6

Theme: Product Lifecycle Management - Enable Collaboration, Empower Innovation -- More than 2500 delegates expected at world’s most important PLM Forum --

Paris, France – September 22, 2003 - IBM and Dassault Systèmes (Nasdaq: DASTY; Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) today announced that the 2003 European CATIA Forum (ECF) will be held November 4-6 at Disneyland, Paris, Newport Bay Hotel. This international symposium, the largest of its kind in the area of Product Lifecycle Management, will bring together European business leaders, developers, consultants and users of Product Lifecycle Management solutions from IBM and Dassault Systèmes.

The program will consist of more than 90 sessions on all aspects of PLM, including PLM business strategy, real-life examples of PLM deployment through customer testimonies, workshops on implementation processes and best practices, and PLM product presentations. The sessions will be animated by IBM and Dassault Systèmes executives, technology experts, partners and customers. The Forum will include a Technifair where IBM, Dassault Systèmes and their partners (software, technology, business and service) will demonstrate the latest in PLM technology. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in developing a PLM roadmap for their business to optimize product development within their company

New at this year’s forum are 12 PLM On Demand sessions led by executives from IBM and Dassault Systèmes, along with manufacturing business leaders and PLM consultants. These sessions, targeting C-level executives, are designed to help them develop a sound business strategy using PLM.

“The ECF is designed to support our customers with informative sessions on how to optimize product development. It is a wonderful opportunity for the PLM community to share ideas and experiences and also for IBM and Dassault Systèmes to receive feedback in order to continually improve our portfolio of products and services,” said Scott Hopkins, general manager IBM Product Lifecycle Management. “We want our customers to leave the forum with new ideas on how they can use IBM PLM solutions more effectively to positively impact business processes, build more innovative products, boost efficiency, reduce time to market, and increase customer satisfaction.”

“PLM is revolutionizing the way products are designed, simulated, managed and produced, and ECF is a window on the technologies, products & solutions fostering that revolution,” said Bernard Charlès, president and CEO, Dassault Systèmes. “Our integrated PLM portfolio of CATIA® (Digital Creation & Engineering), DELMIA™ (Digital Manufacturing & Production), ENOVIA™ and SMARTEAM® (Lifecycle Management) gives companies the power to collaborate and innovate in 3D. The goal of ECF is to show participants how to maximize that potential, benefit from Dassault Systèmes Best Practices, optimize use of our PLM solutions, and reap the benefits of a true 3D vision of the entire product life cycle.”

All plenary, customer implementation and PLM solution sessions will be simultaneously translated into English, French, German and Italian.

For complete information about the ECF, including the full 3-day agenda and registration kit, please visit www.ecforum.com.